


Icarus

by BackdropOfBlue



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, High Hopes Low Rolls (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, Alternate Universe - Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons Campaign, Gen, High Hopes Low Rolls (Web Series) - Freeform, No Dungeons & Dragons Knowledge Required, Not Really Character Death, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Tabletop Roleplaying Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:47:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29836239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BackdropOfBlue/pseuds/BackdropOfBlue
Summary: Paddy is falling, and he begins to see strange visions.About a boy who looks like him, who had metal wings.A boy who loved the sun. Too close. Too much. Too late.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Icarus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kermitissecci](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kermitissecci/gifts).



* * *

As Paddy fell, he beheld sights and sensations while the world passed him by in hazy flurries of color and sound. Delusions assaulted him while he plummeted to the salty sea that crashed on rocks below. 

Things Paddy had never seen before, but they seemed so _right_. Like they had been part of his memory before. Then, in cloudy blurs. Now, in sharply defined, crisp lines. They pounded tattoos into the side of Paddy’s head, daring him to ignore them.

The glinting of the sun, shining against beautiful bronze feathers arranged in neat rows. The glare and heat of the mid-day sun when he raised his arms, festooned in the blindingly bright plumage of his wings. A twenty feet wingspan of a dazzling array of bronze metal quill and remex feathers. 

The soaring freedom of taking flight, heart caught in his throat as Paddy took to the air. The breeze blew gently at his face, so real, Paddy spread his arms as if he would feel the updraft catching his wings. Nothing like how this wind tore at his hair now, whipping it wildly in his face.

Yet Paddy stayed in a trance, caught in these strange forgotten memories. They pulled him back into their sweet embraces and kept him with soft caresses. 

He witnessed the beginning, trapped in a workshop with twenty foot tall walls and yet, no ceiling in sight to obscure his view of the open sky. Nothing to cover the birds and clouds floating above. That was where the idea came from. 

_“Father! I’ve done it! I’ve come up with a way to break us from this prison!” A boy sat up as quick as a whip from where he lay on the hard ground, watching the winged creatures in all their glory._

_A man looked up from where he sat on a wood crate, hunched over a work table littered with tools and bits of machinery. The wall it was pressed up against was covered in parchment with different designs and ideas for things that seemed impossible._ _A forge sat in the corner of the workshop, the fires unlit while Daedalus poured over sheets of parchment, sketching designs for inventions. Boxes were littered about the wide room, some spilling parts of unfinished inventions and tools._

_A surprised look covered the inventor’s face as he gazed at his son. “Really, Icarus? Do tell.”_

_They spent the rest of the day talking about his plan, only stopping when the guards delivered their meal to pretend to work on the king’s warmachines._

Paddy could practically _feel_ the parchment under the pads of his digits as he traced the notes he took on aviation through fingertips that weren’t his own. See through another’s eyes, the clever, rough hands working to craft the wings that would be their catharsis. 

The sandpapery feel of leather on his skin as the same hands strapped him into his harness. Hear the same boy, Icarus, shouting, “We shall own the sky, Father!” in a voice that was Paddy’s but belonged to another.

He couldn’t see how one could own the sky, though. It seemed too wide, too much for any one being to _own_. It seemed too vast to chart. The stars bloomed and wilted. No one could control that. The dreams started to pull Paddy back in. 

Toes in sandals, skimming the salty waves as the sea stretched out for miles ahead of them. Elation that came with the privilege of flight, the beautiful feeling as his heart sang! The liberty of being released from captivity! The sheer joy that overtook him! 

The worried call of a father as his son spread his wings to their full extent and glided on gilded wings, drunk on his own freedom. Then, the dread as laughing turned to cries. The beautiful plumage came undone, bronze feathers spiraling down as he tried desperately to stay afloat. 

As the wind rushed in his ears, making him deaf to all the world, Paddy could only form one single thought. 

_This is familiar._

**Author's Note:**

> Something I came up with as a little short story. Might add another chapter. Don't know yet. Also, these characters aren't mine! Paddy belongs to abd-illustrates, who plays Paddy in the Dungeons and Dragons campaign called High Hopes Low Rolls. I just wrote this ficlet. Paddy does NOT belong to me. I repeat, Paddock Whitlaw does NOT belong to me. Thank you.


End file.
